


Feels

by AnonEhouse



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Humor, Psychologists & Psychiatrists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 19:44:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3822529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony feels so good after unburdening himself to Bruce that he decides to visit a qualified psychiatrist, who advises Tony to tell his friends how he really feels about them.</p><p>This... does not go the way either Tony or the psychiatrist envisioned.</p><p> </p><p>(Set in an AU where the Avengers are living in the Tower, sometime after Thor 2. There's no mention of Bucky. He's probably still in the wind.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feels

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

It felt good to tell Bruce about his experiences, and his newfound personal growth, but after the second time Bruce fell asleep right in the middle of a profound epiphany, Tony decided that Bruce really wasn't that kind of doctor.

Also, while watching 'Love at First Bite' (as part of his on-going campaign to expose Steve to some of the more ridiculous movies made in an effort to get him loosen up- George Hamilton, suntan extremist, playing Dracula- that says it all, really) he realized that George's girlfriend's psychiatrist was right- free therapy doesn't count.

So Tony manned up and made an appointment with the most highly recommended psychoanalyst JARVIS could find. Tony went, and sat down in the office and... sat there. At the end of an hour he'd got as far as telling the doctor his name, but everything else stuck in his throat despite his best effort to cooperate. He couldn't even do the 'say the first thing that comes to mind' response.

"Mr. Stark," the doctor finally said at the end of the non-session, "do you feel that in future sessions we might perhaps develop a rapport?"

Tony thought it over. "Not really. Well," he said as he stood up and worked the crick out of his neck, "that was fun. Let's not do that again. Send the bill to Stark Industries."

"I can recommend another analyst. You need to be able to talk with someone. It's not healthy to keep everything locked away."

"I can talk to people just fine! I can talk to my friends!" Tony had never been accused of _not_ being able to talk. The idea was absurd.

"Really?" The analyst looked skeptical. "Oh, I don't doubt you can discuss day-to-day business, and minor social matters, but have you ever told them how you feel? Told anyone?"

"I... Yes!" Tony said triumphantly. "I told Pepper how important she was to me."

"And how did that make you feel?"

"Pretty good, actually." Tony skipped over the parts after that, like the shower, and then waking up with the Suit grabbing at Pepper.

"Anyone else?"

"I told Bruce how I felt about..." Tony tapped his chest, against the arc reactor. He remembered dreaming about getting it taken out, but that was stupid. In the dream it was simple, get a wise Chinese doctor to acupuncture him while Pepper looked on from the observation booth (Pepper, who got queasy at the _thought_ of blood) and then use tweezers and super magnets to get out the shrapnel. And then immediately afterward he's standing on a cliff throwing away the old reactor, perfectly healthy. Yeah, right. He was stuck with the arc unless medicine made a whole lot of breakthroughs at once.

"And how did that make you feel?"

"It was... good to tell someone who could understand."

"Hmm, I suggest we make an appointment for next week, and in the meantime, why don't you try telling the people you do trust how you feel about them?"

 

Tony thought it over on the way back to the Tower. What could it hurt? As a scientist, he had to admit that the two trials had positive results. People were so used to him talking they tuned him out like Bruce had done, so they wouldn't really notice him spilling his emotions in their direction. It went against everything dear old Dad had taught him- 'everyone's out to get your secrets', 'you can't show vulnerability', 'Starks are made of iron', yadda yadda yadda. In retrospect those mottos may have had something to do with Starks also being boozers. 

Rhodey had nagged him enough times about being a 'lone gunslinger' and Pepper had been really hurt when he hadn't told her he was dying. 

So, ok, he'd give it a try. 

He got out of the elevator on the Avengers' communal floor and immediately spotted Thor in the open plan kitchen, creating a multi-layered sandwich out of half a dozen whole loaves of bread. "Hey, Thor."

"Greetings, Stark!" Thor said without looking up from his artistry. He was cutting the crusts off with a knife the size of his forearm.

Tony went into the kitchen, but not too close to the swiftly moving knife. "I just wanted to tell you how amazing you are. Not because of the muscle, although yeah, wow. But I really admire the way you never give up and you never let things turn you bitter. I wish I'd had a brother just like you. Even though he would have stolen all the girls. Yeah." Tony nodded.

Thor dropped the knife with a clatter. "That is... I am honored," Thor said.

Tony grinned. "See you later, big guy." That felt good. There was a nice loose warm feeling somewhere in the vicinity of the arc. So, three for three. He got back in the elevator. Bruce would probably be in his lab at this time of day, working on solving world hunger or curing the common cold, something like that.

Yep, Tony saw a familiar salt and pepper mass of curls bent over a microscope as soon as he entered the lab. "Bruce, how's it going? How can you work in here? It's so quiet!"

Bruce looked up and smiled faintly. "Well, it was."

"I love when you do that. Did I ever tell you? It's great how you can say something and it sounds so polite but a moment later _zing_."

Bruce blinked. "Thanks, I think."

"I'm glad you accepted my offer to stay here, and it's not just because of the awesome science babies we can make together. I just really like you, Bruce." Tony loved the wide-eyed look Bruce gave him. "Oh, and I really like the other guy, too. I'll have to tell him the next time I see him."

"Yeah." Bruce cleared his throat. "You do that."

"Ta-taa!" Tony ducked back into the elevator to hunt up the next Avenger on his mental list. Really this was working out wonderful. Tony felt all relaxed, as if he'd knocked back several scotches. The world had that soft, rosy glow about it. And without the possibility of a hangover! Tony had no idea where Clint and Natasha might be, since they had no set routines- something about being spies and assassins, no doubt, but Steve liked to use the gym around this time of day, so Tony could probably find him there.

Tony didn't use the gym as often as he should. Hauling around the hundred odd pounds of Iron Man constituted a fair workout when he was on the ground, but in the air it required less brute force and more finesse. Funny how every time he saw Steve working out, Tony had the impulse to suck in his gut and throw his shoulders back. But that wasn't what he'd come here to say. The sound of fists meeting heavy bag stopped, as Steve became aware of Tony's presence. He caught the bag and turned to face Tony, with an inquiring look on his face.

"I just wanted to tell you that despite all my wisecracks, I really think you're an incredibly resilient and intelligent man. And I don't think the serum had anything to do with it. That's all you, and it always was."

Steve just stared at him.

"Gotta go. People to do, things to see." Tony waved at Steve and then ducked back into the elevator again. "Ok, JARVIS, if it's not too personal, could you tell me where Clint and Natasha are?"

"Agents Barton and Romanov are in the swimming pool on the recreation level."

"Are they both wearing suits? I mean, not that I'm imagining them naked, but like I said, I don't want to walk in on anything too personal." Clint had said that he and Natasha were just friends, but spies equal lies, so you know, Tony was taking that for what it was worth.

JARVIS managed a world-weary tone as he replied, "There are no visible erogenous zones."

"Wow, you make being clothed sound dirty. Recreation level, make it so."

"As you wish."

"No fair mixing The Princess Bride with Star Trek." Tony grinned. "But I have to say this, JARVIS, I am proud of you. I am proud of your sass and every day I wonder how I'd get along without you. You're a good friend." Tony patted the side of the elevator. "I couldn't be prouder of you if I really was your dad."

JARVIS was silent for several seconds. "Thank you, sir." Then he made a throat-clearing noise. "Recreation level coming up."

Tony stepped out onto the non-slip absorbent surface making a wide border around the pool. Clint and Natasha were wearing swimsuits, as JARVIS had said, but they weren't swimming. Instead they were standing, dripping attractively, in front of the elevator, which shut with abnormal rapidity behind Tony. In addition to swimsuits, they both were wearing stone-cold-killer expressions.

"Um, sorry, am I interrupting something?" Tony backed up, but the elevator doors didn't open. He reached out blindly behind himself and hit the emergency manual control. Nothing happened. "JARVIS?"

"I'm sorry, sir, there appears to be a temporary fault."

Well, Tony was here, he might as well say his piece before he tracked down the malfunction. The spy twins were still waiting, in silence. Tony never had liked silence. "Um, hey, Clint. You know that time I asked you how the hell you could make the shots you do? I wasn't making fun of you. It's just... I ran the calculations and wow, the math involved in getting an arrow to hit a moving target flying on an asymmetric curve _while_ you were free-falling and doing gymnastics--a mind that can do that is... beyond rare. You're one of a kind."

Clint made a noise, deep in his throat, and the muscles twitched in his arms, but he didn't say anything. Tony supposed he wasn't used to compliments. Well, you know, assassins and spies seldom get ovations.

Tony turned his attention to Natasha. "Nat... sorry, Natasha, I'm sure many people have told you that you're beautiful. Probably most of them said it trying to get something from you, and it doesn't mean much to you any more. There's the old 'oh, and you're beautiful on the inside' line some people pull, but you don't need to hear that, either. You know what you are, and what you've done, and you know redemption can never be earned, no matter what we do, but you don't use that as an excuse to stop trying to find the right side, and to fight for it with everything you've got. And usually a little more. I admire you for that."

Clint said, "Ok, I'm convinced."

Tony didn't know what that meant, but a second later he found himself nose to the floor, with Clint on his back, and Natasha producing zip ties from somewhere to put around his hands. "What? Wait? Hey! What's going on?"

"You're compromised," Natasha said flatly. She started patting Tony down. Thoroughly. "Or you're an LMD. Or possibly Loki, Thor said he could shape-shift."

"Loki's dead!" Tony said, grasping at the bit he could understand. "And HEY, watch the goods!" 

The elevator door opened again. Tony couldn't look back, but he heard people entering. "HELP!" he yelled.

"Don't hurt him," he heard Bruce say. "He hasn't been violent, has he?"

"On the contrary," Thor said. He moved around to where Tony could see him by lifting his head. "His words and manner were nothing but courteous and thoughtful to me."

"Yeah, me too," Steve said, joining Thor. "That's how I knew something was up and when JARVIS agreed, we knew we had a ringer."

"JARVIS! HAVE YOU... BETRAYED... ME!"

"Blake's Seven. From 'Blake', the final episode," JARVIS said. "Spoken by Avon, who was arguably insane at the time."

"Oh," Natasha said. "We hadn't considered that." She held up the psychoanalyst's business card. 

"Noooo," Tony said. "I am not crazy."

"He has been under a lot of stress, lately," Bruce said, leaning down to pat Tony on the head.

"HAVEN'T WE ALL?" Tony shrieked, trying to roll away from the hypodermic he saw in Natasha's hand. "No, no, no, no, I didn't like it the.... last... time." Tony felt his muscles go to jello, visions of padded cells and strait-jackets filling his head.

Steve leaned down to pat Tony's shoulder. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. You just... need a little rest."

Bruce said, "I'm calling Pepper."

Tony closed his eyes. When he got out of this mess, he was going to tell everyone what he thought of them. And there weren't going to be any more damn COMPLIMENTS.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this [ Avengerkink prompt](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/12672.html?thread=28570240#t28570240)


End file.
